P60 redaction is the removal of personal identifiers from the end-of-year certificate. The Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003 make an employer give a P60 by 31 May to every worker still employed on 5 April. It sums the pay and tax for the year. anonym.plus marks the National Insurance number, address, and box amounts on your device, so the form stays legible.
When this applies
The certificate is what a worker reaches for when a lender or a tax adviser asks what they earned. One page carries a full name and address, a National Insurance number, and the employer PAYE reference. It also carries the taxable earnings that ITEPA 2003 s.62 defines. Most readers of a copy need the totals, not that set.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the certificate in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads a scanned or PDF copy.
- The tool flags the NI number, address, and box amounts.
- Confirm each flag and keep the PAYE reference if cited.
- Swap or black out the marked entries.
- Save the clean copy locally.
What you need to provide
- The certificate (PDF, image scan, or DOCX).
- An operator (Mask suits the NI number box).
- Optional allow-list for the employer PAYE reference.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | UK_NINO | QQ 12 34 56 C → QQ •• •• 56 C |
| Names | PERSON | Surname: Patel → [STAFF] |
| Financial | MONEY | pay £61,200 → [AMOUNT] |
| Location | LOCATION | home address → [ADDRESS] |
| Identifiers | NATIONAL_ID | PAYE ref 123/AB456 → [PAYE] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | tax year 2025/26 → [YEAR] |
Compliance achieved
- Keeps the certificate that the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003 require by 31 May after the tax year ends readable.
- Shields the identifier that Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 Sch. 4 ties to a contribution record.
- Leaves the taxable earnings that ITEPA 2003 s.62 defines in place, so the box totals still reconcile.
- Fits the HMRC expectation that PAYE records stay on file three years after the end of the tax year.
- Mask keeps only the final characters of the National Insurance number when a reader genuinely needs a partial value.
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Limitations & cautions
Box layout varies by payroll software, so OCR can misread a faint scan. Check every flag on an image copy. A P60 is also the worker's own evidence of pay. Give them the full certificate and redact only the copy that goes elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
When must a P60 be issued?
By 31 May following the end of the tax year, to every worker employed on 5 April, under the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003. anonym.plus removes identifiers on a copy you share afterwards.
Can I allow-list the employer PAYE reference?
Yes. Add it to the allow-list. It identifies the employer's scheme rather than the worker, so it often needs to stay while the personal fields go.
Does a redacted P60 still prove annual earnings?
The totals survive, but the certificate no longer shows who earned them. Give a worker the unredacted original whenever they need it as personal evidence.